12.27.10

Though it’s far too early to say anyone could challenge Isiah Thomas for the position of “FIU’s Biggest Public Embarrassment”, a dark horse contender might’ve just emerged. The AP and the Miami Herald are reporting FIU IF Garrett Wittels — nationally known for his 56 game-and-counting hitting streak — was charged with the rape of two 17 year-olds in the Bahamas over the weekend. From New Times’ Tim Elfrink ;

Wittels and his friends — 21-year-olds Robert Rothschild and Jonathan Oberti — were arrested last week over a sexual assault on December 20 at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in Nassau, reports the Miami Herald.

Wittels and Rothschild face two charges of raping the girls, who are American, while Oberti was charged with raping one of the girls, Bahamian Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez tells the Post.

The men were released on $10,000 bond after a Thursday hearing.

Wittels father tells the Herald that the charges are bogus. He says Wittels and his friends met the girls at a casino and accompanied them to a party, and that the charges only came after they realized Wittels was a well-known athlete.
“The next morning, they found out who [Wittels] was, and that was the road they took,” Michael Wittels, an orthopedist in Bay Harbor Islands, told the paper. “He hasn’t been found guilty of anything. I hope [the media] doesn’t hang him for nearly an allegation. That’s all this is.”